


One By One

by Kala_Nemi



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Character Death, Spoilers, also this is like, going to be a tearjerker, like really bad spoilers dude, like. all of em.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-23 19:23:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14339343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kala_Nemi/pseuds/Kala_Nemi
Summary: And one by one, they'll all fall.Major DRV3 Spoilers.update 26/8 - indefinite hiatus.





	1. The Great Divide

**Author's Note:**

> this was actually inspired by a sprite edit that i did involving rantaro and angels (i just wanted an angel boy) and then my older sister made it. worse. she made kiibo, and hopefully ill be able to post the sprites soon. please forgive my bad writing and inconsistencies i aint passin english  
> heres what sparked this hellfic ignore the dates  
> AT-LOW - 11:05 PM  
> he looks  
> pressed  
> demon kiib  
> Super weenie Hut General - 11:05 PM  
> "so...this is what it's like to die?"  
> "oh! my friends!"  
> AT-LOW - 11:06 PM  
> OH  
> NO  
> AT-LOW - 03/20/2018  
> TIME TO WRITE A MULTICHAPTER FIC  
> THROWS TABLET ASIDE  
> Super weenie Nut General - 03/20/2018  
> DO IT DO IT DO IT DO IT

_Thud._

The feeling of frozen marble against Rantaro’s back woke him up with ease. His eyes snapped open. This was not where he was supposed to be at all. He remembered walking into the library, opening the bookshelf door when a flash caught his eye. He walked over to it, with the deafening song of Monokuma’s killing videos playing… 

That was all he could remember. It was like a film cut short; a series of missing strips, and then he found himself here. Rantaro forced himself to sit up (and it felt like several days since he had...) and look around. Surrounding him was a white marble floor and romanesque columns- if he hadn’t known better, he would have thought he was in Rome. The pavilion was...empty, aside from him. Outside of the columns’ reach was a static blue sky, with occasional white clouds breaking it. It was unnerving to him. Why was he alone? Has he always been alone? 

_Had the killing game existed?_

He ran his fingers through his light green hair. There was no blood, nor were there any wounds when he checked over the rest of his body. He discovered something odd- not only had his outfit changed from his loose-fit striped tee and cargo shorts to a pastel green robe, but there was a pair of delicate beige wings on his back. He thought to himself- he almost resembled…an angel. 

No one else was in that little marble pavillion; not yet. Rantaro found himself entirely alone, surrounded by chilled stone and what felt like artificial light emanating from the sky outside. He didn’t even know what to do as he sat back down on the flooring. His mind wandered...did anyone remember him? Did anyone miss him? Could they really miss him with how little time he spent there, how little time he spent with those he called his friends? He let out a sad chuckle as he said to himself, “What an Ultimate Survivor I am…” 

After what felt like days of sitting alone, a soft tap on the floor behind Rantaro alerted him of someone’s arrival. He turned on his heel to see a familiar blonde teen- Kaede Akamatsu. She had been put in the same sort of robe as him- a soft, flowy pink robe, albeit muddled in hue. A stark contrast to the delicate white wings on her back. He set the small detail aside, chalking it up to her vest being a similar colour. (Had it been? Really, he couldn’t fully remember. It felt like ages since he had seen her last…) Regardless, he was just happy to see another human there. Maybe she had answers… 

Well, if she ever answered him. Kaede was reluctant to talk to Rantaro, out of fear that he knew she had murdered him. She felt it was obvious- the execution and trial were still fresh in her mind. Saihara, that she had left behind to play the game. She felt so guilty, so terrible, and a reminder remained in the pink streaks of Rantaro’s hair- not that he realised they were there. Rantaro was determined to get answers from her, and he began asking questions.  
“Kaede…? Kaede. That’s you, isn’t it?” He spoke, after what felt like months of silence in that room. 

“Yes...it’s me. Rantaro. I, um…” Kaede trailed off. Why was she hesitating now, of all times? It felt so awkward, knowing that she killed him, but why wasn’t he angry…? Did he know? 

“Good. You...I’m guessing we’re both...y’know.” 

“I guess so. It’s kind of sad, isn’t it?” Kaede laughed nervously. 

“Yeah. I got worried, for a bit. I thought you all forgot about me. I was really worried that I hadn’t existed at all, honestly. As terrible as it is, I’m glad that you’re here now.” Rantaro smiled at her, a genuine smile. He paused. 

_“So, who was it that got me, Kaede?”_

Kaede’s silence almost told Rantaro what he needed to know. She put her hand over a line of bruising on her neck before speaking in the quietest tone he had heard her speak in. 

“It...it was me. I’m sorry. I thought if I set the trap, then I would have killed the mastermind...but you- you fell into it instead, and I...I killed you…” 

Rantaro paused. Kaede? _Kaede killed him?_ Sweet, innocent Kaede, who vowed to never hurt anyone, who tried to keep them motivated to push through anything...killed him. Part of him was angry that she had broken her promise to them, angry that she had killed him, angry that she couldn’t end the killing game...but he couldn’t fault her for it. He shook the thoughts out of his head. He...wouldn’t be able to make eye contact for a while. 

While looking up, he noticed something behind Kaede that confused him. Two grand pianos had appeared in that pavillion- one made of polished ebony, gleaming a deep black that almost pulled in the light, and one made of pure ivory, shining so bright in the pavillion’s artificial light that it almost hurt. The two pianos were placed back to back, facing each other as if meant for a beautiful duet. Rantaro knew they weren’t there before, and it was strange to think that these things had just...appeared. That was the only _logical_ solution to it. 

“Hey, Kaede, look. There’s two pianos here.” Rantaro pointed behind her, causing the blonde-haired pianist to look. 

Kaede’s eyes lit up in amazement. Two pianos… she could only play one, but she could teach someone else, couldn’t she? Rantaro was right there, so he could learn! They definitely had all the time in the world to play piano. She could even see a stack of music sheets on each piano. 

“Hey, Rantaro...do you want to play?” 


	2. Koi and Lotus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two more come, and they seem more amicable.

Rantaro’s fingers stumbled over the ivory keys as he tried to follow Kaede’s movements. She had been playing piano much longer than he’d thought. It was amazing to watch her, though…

He felt his pinky slip, and a major chord turn sour. _Here comes Kaede’s wrath,_ he thought, a pained expression on his face.

“Rantaro...one more time. Try to focus on your hands more than mine, okay?” Kaede chided. She was patient, as they really did have all the time in the world, but she thought that an ultimate would learn faster than this.

“Ahaha. Sorry, sorry, your playing’s just so mesmerising, I couldn’t help it…” Rantaro smiled at her. Kaede...she had her good sides.

_Even if she did kill him._

He shook the poisonous words out of his mind. 

“Now, Rantaro, let’s do this again,” Kaede hummed, One, two, one-two-three--”

A splash distracted the two before they could continue Rantaro’s lesson. Kaede looked back, and her eyes widened. “...When did that get there…?”

Now in a corner of the pavillion sat a perfectly dug koi pond- presumably, there were fish that resided in that pond, but there was something- no, some _one_ that resided in that pond, crawling out of it with a confused look on their face. Kaede's eyes lit up as she jumped up from the bench, rushing over to the pond to greet that newcomer.

"Ryoma! Y-you're here!" She shouted. Rantaro had just begun getting up from his seat by this point, surprise in his green eyes. The young man with the cat-eared hat looked at the two in surprise.

"Kaede? Rantaro? I thought you two died." He stated, confusion evident in his voice.

Kaede nodded in response. "Yeah, we...we did. And...so did you, it looks like."

Realisation came to Ryoma's mind. Oh, right- he had died. He looked down at his wrists, the red lines around them from the handcuffs that had been used to restrain him. He could see the traces of Kaede and Rantaro's deaths, too- the pink streaks atop Rantaro's pale green hair and the ring of bruises around Kaede’s throat. He looked away from them, causing Kaede to tilt her head and ask-

“Is something wrong, Ryoma?”

The tennis player shook his head. “No, nothing. I’m sorry, I didn’t expect to be here. I thought there would be nothing…”

“Isn’t it relieving that there’s something?” Rantaro asked, tilting his head. “It’s especially comforting considering there’s other people…”  
Ryoma didn’t want to admit that he _wished_ there was nothing past death. He wanted it to be over. But it wasn’t over, and he was in front of those who wanted to live, and he felt so guilty and selfish over it. Was this his punishment for having no will to live? Probably. He really deserved it, after all of that. “I guess so. I should have thought about it sooner.”

Kaede smiled, clasping her hands together. “Thank goodness. Hey, Ryoma, why don’t you start learning with Rantaro? I’m sure we have enough time.”

Rantaro groaned inwardly. He was starting to get tired of learning piano, especially with his fumbling fingers. He was absolutely terrible at it- why did Kaede think this was a good idea? He really wasn’t sure. He had very little talent with music, and he could tell Kaede was getting angry with his lack of musical ability. It wasn’t like they could produce notebooks and pens out of nowhere for Rantaro to learn with, and he definitely needed those to learn. This method of watching and learning just wasn’t working out for him, and he wasn’t even sure that Ryoma wanted to learn. It surprised him when Ryoma agreed. (Later, he was glad- it took most of the pressure off of him to learn, as Kaede would switch between the two.)

Surely, Rantaro was convinced they would all get bored of the pianist’s constant chiding and attempts to teach the duo. Ryoma was a much faster learner than he, and it led to Kaede seeming a bit disappointed when Rantaro’s fingers still slipped, or he forgot the chords and keys. He had started wishing that they weren’t trapped under this little pavilion-

...was he trapped? He actually didn’t know. He stood up from the ebony piano’s bench, Kaede trying to ask him what his thought process was behind him leaving. He walked to what looked like the edge of the pavilion and reached out, praying that the coldness emanating from it was just a breeze from outside.

His fingertips touched an invisible wall. The wall felt much like the marble under his feet; cold, unrelenting and ungiving. There was no way that they could break through it, no way for them to fly away, just like the hopeless situation in the killing game. At least here there was no threat of death, but it was still so...boring. Tiring. He was tired of being trapped in a birdcage.

Kaede walked over and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. He wasn’t aware that he looked as hopeless as he felt, and her worried expression put it all into perspective. He was miserable here, trapped when he loved to travel. She shook her head, watching as Rantaro’s hand dropped back to his side. “You know...you didn’t have to agree to learning piano. I’m sure we can find something else to do! There’s gotta be something...um. There’s a koi pond now, so we can probably…”

“Do what, Kaede? There’s nothing. As vast as this place seems, we’re trapped.” Rantaro unwittingly snapped. “We’re stuck here forever, with nothing to do and nothing more to see. Did you forget we’re dead? We died! Ryoma and I were murdered! You were executed!” 

The ferocity burning in him quickly petered out. He had just snapped at her for trying to help him. He was unreasonably irritated, he knew it. Yet Kaede looked like she understood- she was tired of it, too. She wanted to be out of there, and here they were. Ryoma was bound to start feeling the same way if he hadn’t already, though for now he had resigned to continuing his own lesson. Rantaro looked down, unsure of what to say. “I’m...really sorry. I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s fine, Rantaro. I know it’s stressful…” She smiled, although the twinge of sadness in it changed it entirely. “I’m sure there’s some hope in this situation. There’s bound to be. After all, isn’t this just another chance to live?”

Ryoma spoke up from his place at the piano, having stopped playing for now. “You know, Kaede...you acted just like this before.”

“I’m well aware.”

“What makes you think it’ll change anything now?”

“Well, I’m not alone, am I? I have you two, and all we need is each other.”

Rantaro laughed. “I’m not so sure about that. We’re going to get sick of each other eventually. Then what? We fight to our death?”

“You aren’t helping, Rantaro.” Kaede shook her head, disappointed. “We can’t die anymore, anyways, so there’s no point.”

“Kaede, that’s the—”

The two’s miniature argument was cut short by a crash. Despite the living’s best efforts, it looked like another person had joined them. Ryoma pointed it out to the two, signaling to a large dining table at the end of the hall. “You two, look.”

Another fallen student had come to join them, and with her came a sense of homeliness.

Kirumi Tojo, the maid that had offered so graciously to help the sixteen students, had turned out to be the killer of Ryoma Hoshi. Yet there was something visibly off about her, much different than the other three angels. Her wings were a slightly darker grey, in contrast to the pale colours of the trio’s. The spiderwebbed gown that she wore was tinged grey, as if some of the colour had been sapped from it. She laid on the table, very obviously still coming to as the three came over to investigate.

“Did she…?” Kaede trailed off, looking at the piercing wounds on Kirumi’s hands. Her gloves were gone- whether they had been lost or not was completely out of her mind. It worried Kaede, as she realised that had been part of her execution. Puncture wounds, cuts barely visible through the dull grey fabric, and the bruising.

“She did. I wanted her to escape.” Ryoma finished, not afraid to be close to her. It was what he had wanted, much to Rantaro and Kaede’s surprise. They hadn’t expected him to _want_ to die. Though, they were unaware of the motives given, and the two didn’t want to harass them on things that had already come to pass.

Kirumi opened her eyes. Kaede looked a bit closer at the maid, noticing the darkly coloured cross shape in her green eyes. It was different from Rantaro’s and Ryoma’s…both of them had a lighter colour. Kaede wondered if it was the same for her.

Rantaro moved her gently out of the way, helping Kirumi off of the table. “Oh, um…Kirumi. Welcome.”

Kirumi looked at Rantaro, then the other two. She let out a defeated laugh. “I guess I didn’t make it out after all…I’m very sorry, Ryoma. I hope you will forgive me.”

“For doing what I wanted you to?” Ryoma shook his head. “I got you killed.”

Kaede watched as the two talked it out. She was surprised that Ryoma forgave his killer so easily, after his life had been taken from him. She didn’t even know if Rantaro forgave her after she had killed him. By the looks he occasionally gave her, and his snappishness, she assumed not. Yet Ryoma forgave Kirumi with ease, even _apologising_ that she was executed. It was surprising. There must have been more to all of this, but it was all too much to ask. For now…

“Hey, Kirumi?” Rantaro asked, like a child trying to get their mother’s attention.

“Yes, Rantaro?”

“You brought a table…

_”Does this mean we’re getting dinner?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaAAAAH IM SORRY IF THIS IS KIND OF ALL OVER THE PLACE!! I have never written for Ryoma or Kirumi so im sorry if theyre ooc ;; i kinda focused more on rantaro and kaede anyways?
> 
> expect a bit more shenanigans the next go round!! i might be taking a bit of a long break because i'm leaving school in a little under a month but ;; i'll be writing more soon. maybe not even for this fic. who knows!  
> [if anyone knows how to get my tab spacing to stay please tell me its so irritating that it wont!]


End file.
